Nostalgia ain't what it used to be

Geez, What a Surprise

Date: 06 October, 2004

By: Chief

harles Duelfer, the chief U.S. weapons inspector or hunter in the Iraq disaster, has finally unleashed his report. The surprise here is that there is no surprise. At least for anybody that has a functioning brain. To summarize the 1,000 plus page report, Saddam Hussein did not, I repeat, not have:

Any weapons of mass destruction, and;

Subsequent to Gulf War I, any capacity to manufacture weapons of mass destruction.

Like I said, no surprise.

There is slightly less than one month to go before the general election. Both the Democrats and the Republicans are having a field day with the report. Both have a lot to lose. Though it is the American people who will be the ultimate losers come November no matter which main political party wins.

What is absolutely fascinating about this whole mess is that our elected leaders, both in the White House and on both sides of the political aisle in Congress, all agreed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and had to be eliminated. This was way prior to Bush ordering the invasion of Iraq. Additionally, the utter fools in Congress voted to give Bush and Company a resolution which allowed the current resident idiot in the White House to take whatever action he or she thought necessary against any country which we do not like. Military force was and is one of the options.

When you get down to brass tacks the entire federal government lied to the American people. The president lied to us. The vice president lied to us. The current administration lied to us. The Congress lied to us. So the question is who do you trust? Or, and possibly more accurately, who can you trust? The Democrats? Kerry and Edwards and company? The Republicans? Bush and Cheney and company? I would have to say none of the above.

Kerry and other Democrats voted in favor of the joint resolution giving Bush the authority to launch an invasion, to precipitate a war if you will, without, let me repeat that, without a Congressional declaration of war. The Republicans in Congress did the exact same thing. And we, the American people, let them get away with that. The Congress abdicated their Constitutional responsibility. Only the Congress can declare war. The president must ask the Congress for a declaration of war — not a joint resolution allowing whoever is president to start a war based upon "faulty" intelligence or because the leader of a country is someone the president does not like or for some other trumped up reason. But that is exactly what has transpired.

The U.S. has suffered over 1,000 casualties since the beginning of the Iraqi war with no end in sight. A thousand families have suffered the loss or maiming of a loved one. And for what reason? To date nobody knows. At the very least nobody in a position to know has come clean and told the American people why 1,000 service men and women have either been killed or wounded fighting in Iraq. That is not to mention the American civilian casualties.

Of course depending upon who you ask the story as to why we invaded a sovereign country can change almost daily. Yes, Bush and Cheney are at fault. So are Kerry and Edwards. Two sets of peas from the same pod. I find it reprehensible. Yet there you have it.

No weapons found. I do fully believe that no weapons will ever be found. American service men and women are still getting blown apart. Coming home in either a body bag, a shoe box or in a wheel chair. Even if our returning Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines are not physically wounded they are, and make no mistake about this, mentally wounded. It is impossible not to become that way. War is ugly in a way that cannot be described. One has to experience it. Kind of like describing the taste of salt. You just can't do it. You have to taste it. The same is true of combat. That is one experience that no one should have.

In the realm of presidential politics the Associated Press ran a story and here is a snip from it:

" '[Kerry's] claiming I [President Bush] misled America about weapons when he, himself, cited the very same intelligence about Saddam weapons programs as the reason he voted to go to war,' Bush said. Citing a lengthy Kerry quote from two years ago on the menace Saddam could pose, Bush said: 'Just who's the one trying to mislead the American people'?"

The truth of the matter is both Bush and Kerry have in the past and continue to mislead (lie) to us. The lies both sides are uttering have been damn near non-stop in the last couple of months.

On election day, should Bush get the nod for a second term I do not see anything changing. At least not for the better. We may end up in another war. It is a definite possibility. Bush has his own agenda and the American people, especially the U.S. military, are going to be the instrument of that agenda. If, however, Kerry gets the high sign to move into the White House I basically see on the foreign policy front the same as if Bush were in office. In fact there is a slight chance of a higher possibility of another war with Kerry in office. This is due to the fact of him having to prove himself worthy of being Commander-in-Chief. On the domestic front, higher taxes, good-bye guns and the Patriot Act will remain fully in place. It is a lose-lose situation for the American people either way you slice it.

So what is a poor voter to do? Just say no! No to the Democrats. No to the Republicans. Vote third party. What the hell do we have to lose? Truth be told we have our remaining freedom, which is diminishing by the day, to lose if we do not get rid of the Democrats and Republicans who are strangling us. Any third party candidate is better than any Democratic or Republican party candidate.

What is another reason to vote third party? How about the life of your son or your daughter may be on the line if you don't. If you do not understand what I mean just ask any of the 1,000 parents whose son or daughter they either buried or is now wounded for life because of the war in Iraq.

The bottom line is we can't trust either Bush or Kerry. That also should come as no surprise.